


I was born like this, since one like this.

by Client327



Series: Colt.DNA. [4]
Category: Ride or Die (Visual Novel)
Genre: Blood, Car Accidents, F/M, Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:02:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22036000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Client327/pseuds/Client327
Summary: The next three parts of this series will be about Colt's parent's meeting and falling in love.
Relationships: Teppei Kaneko/Original Character(s)
Series: Colt.DNA. [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1586107





	I was born like this, since one like this.

**Author's Note:**

> PB owns all this, and me. While listening to Kendrick Lamar’s song “DNA.” I thought that it lined up pretty well with Colt’s character and wanted to do something paralleling the two. This is part of a series of stories that I’m going to do where each one will be based off of the lines of the song that I put in the title.

This was Teppei’s favorite part of the job. Every weekend he pulled up to the familiar chalked out starting line and waited with bated anticipation as that week’s flagger held the fiery red fabric high over their head. He watched as it whipped in the wind; an inferno that would spread through every racers veins once dropped. 

Everything faded away in that moment; the rumbles and roars of the surrounding vehicles, the cheers from the intoxicated spectators, even his own breathing. All of it was drowned out by the silence that was brought on by the waiting. When it finally began its descent, he was ready. Hands and feet working in perfect tandem. 

This had been his life for the last eight years, and, in many ways, long before that. Instincts took over as he expertly shifted gears and the whine of his engine reached a crescendo. Teppei was the man to beat in Los Angeles and the surrounding area, a feat that few had been able to accomplish and none within the last year. He tried not to let it go to his head, knowing that you don’t get anywhere in this line of work by assuming you are safe at the top. There will always be challengers.

A blur of turquoise invading his peripheral vision fought for his attention, but he knew that he would be able to inch the car back on the upcoming curve. The turn was rapidly approaching and the other vehicle was not relenting. He moved closer to the driver’s side of the opponent hoping to intimidate them enough to gain the upper hand in the turn. To his surprise, though, he was met with push-back as the car made contact with the side of his own.

It was enough. His moment’s hesitation lost him the inside of the turn and the lead, but he was determined to gain it back on the straightaway. He glared with malice at the unmistakable round taillights of a Corvette in front of him as he down shifted for more speed. It was no use, though, they had pulled ahead so quickly and were across the finish line before he could make up the time. 

Teppei slowed his Supra to a stop alongside the winner, followed closely by the other trailing vehicles. He let his head fall back against the headrest as he attempted to rein in his anger. He knew it was commonplace to play a little dirty in these races, but no one dared to do it to him. Even at the young age of 25, Teppei Kaneko had already established himself as being more ruthless and conniving than his father or his father’s father. 

He threw his car door open and stepped out as onlookers began to gather around. It was not uncommon for fights to break out after races. He pushed his long, black hair away from his face and sauntered towards the car trying to look more calm than he felt as a few of the other attending members of the Mercy Park Crew trailed behind him. 

He stopped short of his destination as the Corvette door flung open to reveal a very excited woman that looked to be a few years younger than him. She leapt from the car and looked around, beaming when her gaze fell on a tall, skinny man running up to her car. She jumped into his arms, her wavy brown hair swinging wildly around her shoulders. 

“You did it!” The tall man was jumping next to her, an image of enthusiasm. 

“Oh my God, I can’t believe I did it.” Her eyes were wide, disbelieving, as she raked her hands through her hair. 

The man with her stopped jumping as soon as he laid eyes on Teppei staring them down like he was calculating his next move, “Uh oh… I think we have trouble.” He maneuvered to stand behind her.

Teppei approached the two of them, massaging his hands together slowly as he tried to figure them out. The woman stood nearly a foot shorter than him, but postured herself like a woman six foot or taller. Teppei had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep the smirk from spreading across his face. 

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.” His voice was level, calm.

“You haven’t.” She crossed her arms over her generous bosom, maintaining eye contact. 

He looked back and forth between her emerald eyes, “You did a number on my car.” He gestured behind him with a tilt of his chin. The woman looked around him at his car, paint scratches all down the passenger side. 

“Are you looking for an apology?” She quirked her eyebrows in question at him, clearly bored with his line of questioning. 

Teppei look back at his friends as if to confirm that this woman was in fact challenging him, and turned back to her with a wicked smile. He held his hands out to the side, “Hazards of the job, I suppose.” He stuck his hand out toward her still trying to read her throughout their exchange. “Teppei Kaneko.”

She glanced around at the crowd that had surrounded them before turning her attention back to Teppei, “Jenetta.” She nodded in his direction, ignoring his outstretched hand until he took it back.

He gazed briefly down her figure, curves in all the best places, and back up to her eyes. To say that he was amused would have been an understatement, and he wasn’t ready to end this exchange until he had this woman figured out. “Can I get you a drink?”

They were interrupted briefly when the race coordinator approached to deliver Jenetta’s cut of the winnings. She ignored his question to count out the bills in her hand before her smile turned back to him, “I can get my own drink, thanks.” She turned and handed a fraction of the cash to the tall man behind her. 

“Are we done here? Or are you going to break my legs or something for scratching your car?” She took the smallest step up to him.

Teppei couldn’t help but laugh at the prospect of being in any sort of violent altercation with this tiny woman in front of him. “Have a drink with me then.”

“I, uh, have a boyfriend.” She glanced back at the man behind her with wide eyes, communicating a silent message that he received…slowly. He stepped up to her side, sliding an arm around her waist awkwardly and waving at Teppei even more awkwardly. 

Teppei’s gaze traveled over her body again, slowly this time, to where her hands were fidgeting at her waist, “That’s too bad.” He turned his gaze to the man with his arm around her waist, acknowledging him for the first time with a curt nod. “Maybe I’ll see you around then. Give me a chance to win my money back.” He flashed her a smirk.

“You can try.” She shrugged adding to the flare of flippancy in her tone. 

And he did try. Week after week, Teppei lined up with the other racers, eyes flitting between side and rear-view mirrors until the woman in the turquoise Corvette appeared in one of them. It had become something of a masochistic ritual to him every week now. He would spend the days fine-tuning and modifying his car, spending extra time honing his craft, just to be beaten by at least one car’s length every time. The loss would ignite his anger and lure his hubris to it’s tipping point every time, and he loved it. Craved it. 

It kept him in check; she kept him in check. But, more than that, it was often times the only real feeling he would have in a given week. The anger would hit his system like a drug and spread through his body, giving him a high compared to his otherwise numb existence; the one that kept him safe and alive. 

Jenetta never took the wins for granted. She was just as shocked and ecstatic as the first time each time she crossed the makeshift finish line first. Once the race was over, she usually collected her winnings and left with her friend, not staying to bask in her victory like most would. 

After a particularly close race, Teppei met up with her as she was stuffing the cash from the week in the pocket of her denim jacket, “I’m gaining on you.” His voice came from just behind her ear. 

She turned to look at him briefly, standing much too close for her comfort, before continuing to pack up her things, “Don’t get use to it. I was just having an off night.” She teased, sounding almost friendly. 

Before they could continue their friendly banter, Jenetta’s attention was drawn to the billows of smoke pouring out from underneath the hood, “Shit! I knew something felt wrong.” She sprinting to pop the hood as her friend and Teppei joined her at either side.

“Oh God, what did you do to it?” His face was pinched in worry as they looked over the steaming engine.

“I don’t know! It was fine before the race.” She frantically checked all the most obvious breaking points first to no avail.

“I have a shop a few blocks away. If you want, I could look at it for you.” Teppei offered when it looked like the blame was getting laid heavily on Jenetta.

She snorted briefly at the offer, feeling a little bad afterwards. He was just trying to help after all. “That’s ok. My dad runs a shop on the other side of the neighborhood. I just need to get the rollback out here.”

“You’re going to have to fix this fast. My parents are going to flip when I come home without it!” 

“I know, ok?! Just wait here with it. I’m going to call a cab, and I’ll be right back with the truck.” She tried to reassure her friend, but could see his panic quickly taking over. 

“I can give you a ride. It would be a lot faster, and cheaper,” Teppei offered with a grin, casually leaning against her car. 

***

Jenetta had rolled her eyes, but here she was, reluctantly sitting in the passenger seat of Teppei Kaneko’s car. She gave him directions upon each turn, but otherwise was quiet. She didn’t like the idea of him knowing where their shop was, or the prospect of blending these two separate parts of her life together in any way. 

The inside of Teppei’s car was immaculate with seemingly no dust or dirt on any surface. The smell of smoke was the only indicator that it wasn’t brand new off the showroom floor. She glanced over at him, observing the confident relaxed way he handled the steering and shifting. It was a stark contrast to the intensity that she usually saw in him during races.

“So, your…boyfriend…seemed pretty upset about your car.” He glanced at her briefly before turning back to the road.

“Yeah, it’s not actually my car. He just lets me race it for a cut of the winnings.” 

“Then he should be prepared for the risks. It’s a dangerous game we play out there.” His voice was level, always hinting at something more, but never saying it. 

“Only if you let the other cars too close.” She teased earning a broad smile from the driver. 

“Did you know that you are the only person that has beaten me in a very, very long time?” He made the left turn that she indicated. “It drives me crazy.” 

The bluntness of his confession shocked her for a moment before she regained her wits. “You know all you have to do is go faster to fix that, right?”

His laughter filled the tight space of the car, “And you are definitely the only person that talks to me like that.”

She relaxed a little as the tension between them began to ease, “Yeah? You kind of seem like you need knocked down a few pegs, anyway. Why does everyone act so afraid of you all the time?”

Teppei simply shrugged. It was an odd thing to not have his reputation preceded him, and he thought he would enjoy it a little while longer. She would find out everything soon enough, he was sure. Suddenly the ink along his forearm spelling out the letters “MPC” felt heavy on his skin for the first time.

“This is me.” She pointed at the small, humble shop on the corner. Teppei pulled up along the curb and put the car in park.

“Have you driven a rollback before?” He gestured at the large truck sitting in front of the garage doors.

“Oh, all the time. I work here during the day, so I end up going after a lot of cars.” She felt slightly awkward, not knowing how to end this interaction. “Uh, thanks for the ride. You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to.” His response was too quick; too sure. “I guess I might not see you next weekend at the race?”

Jenetta dropped her head back against the headrest, “I guess not. I’ll be busy blowing all my savings on that piece of shit car.” She rolled her eyes. “But I’ll be back to make it up.” She reassured him with arrogant grin.

“I don’t doubt it.” Their gaze met for a long, quiet moment before Jenetta cleared her throat and blindly reached for the door handle. 

“Thanks again. I guess, I’ll see you around then?” She stepped out and held the door for a moment longer. 

“Wait a minute.” He reached over to the glove box and pulled out a small pad of paper and pen to scrawl his phone number on before handing it to Jenetta. “If you need anything. Any help with the car, or anything. Call me.”

She considered the paper in his outstretched hand for a moment before reaching out, wrapping her hand around his to enclose the note in it, “No thanks. I’m not looking for favors, Teppei. I can take care of myself.” With that she stepped back and closed the door. All he could do was watch her walk away and toss the crumpled paper in the floorboard. 

***

Two weeks had passed without sight or sound of Jenetta, and it was starting to really wear on Teppei. He had grown almost reliant on their races every Saturday, driven by a desperate need to feel anything at all. That she was gorgeous and witty only added fuel to the fire. He paced around the shop floor before making his way to his car, popping the hood, and stripping out every line that he could. 

When he was done, he stalked to the phone mounted on the wall by the break room and dialed the number to the auto shop across town to send a tow truck. One showed up 40 minutes later and loaded up the Supra with ease.

The inside of the shop looked more meager than the outside had. Outdated posters and magazines adorned the reception area where Teppei waited to check in his vehicle with the young woman working the front desk. She looked not unlike Jenetta, so much so that he could only assume they were related in some way. A sister, perhaps? She finished taking down his information before moving to prop open the door that separated the waiting area from the shop floor.

“Jenny!” She yelled over the sound of the radio playing loudly in the next room. “Come unload this car!”

Teppei couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face at his luck. He had hoped that it would be her. As he looked around, though, he realized that she might be the only one working at the moment.

Jenetta pushed through the door, wiping her greasy hands on the front of her blue coveralls before looking up at their next customer. Her hair was pulled back out of her face in a sloppy bun, and there was hardly one square inch of her that wasn’t covered in some kind of grime. She froze in place when she noticed him. 

The receptionist was blind to her shock, though, and continued to give her the specs of the job and shoved the keys in her direction. 

“Do you mind if I sit in?” Teppei poured on his most convincing amount of charm, directing his question at the receptionist. “I’m just really protective of my car.” He added, not looking at Jenetta, but feeling her eyes boring into him. 

“Of course. People do it all the time! Just follow Jenny to the back.” The receptionist was overly cheery and the sound of her voice would annoy Teppei if she hadn’t been playing right into his hand. 

Jenetta snatched the keys and turned back to the shop without waiting for Teppei to follow. Once they were on the other side of the closed door, she turned on him, “What are you doing here?”

He gestured at his car sitting on the truck at the entrance to the garage, “I need my car fixed.”

“You have your own shop.” She countered, shifting her weight to one foot.

“I don’t have the time to work on it.” He shrugged, not nearly bothered enough to mask his visit well enough. 

She rolled her eyes, “But you have time to sit here and watch me work on your car?” With a shake of her head, she spun on her heels to begin unloading the car. She didn’t care why he was here; his money would spend the same as anyone else’s. 

Once the car was settled in the bay, Teppei took a seat on a fold out chair as Jenetta popped the hood of the car. It only took her a moment to pinpoint the problem. She looked around the hood to find him trying to covertly cover his smile with his hand.

“Really?” She pulled out a loose line and waved it at him. “Why are you really here? You didn’t have to fuck your car up to stop by here.”

“Did I not?” He leaned forward in his seat, “Because I’m pretty sure it’s the only way I would have gotten to talk to you.”

She dropped the hood of the car shut with a loud bang and walked over to him, grabbing a chair along the way. She dropped it in front of him and sat down, gesturing for him to get on with it, “Talk then.”

“I think I have an offer you might be interested in.” 

She sat back and considered him with a confused disdain, “I told you I have a boyfriend.”

He tilted his head to the side, “Jenetta…I’ve seen your boyfriend making out with at least three different guys at the sideshow.”

Jenetta looked on for a moment before bursting into laughter, “That asshole…” She composed her face again with great effort before explaining, “He’s my best friend.“ 

Teppei waved his hand dismissively, “Anyone with eyes could see you weren’t dating, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about. I want you to work for my family. You’re the best driver I’ve seen out there, and we need you.”

“Doing what exactly? Just driving?” She hadn’t missing the way people acted around Teppei, always stepping out of his direction and averting their gaze, and knew there was a lot more to him than she understood. 

“Just driving. Some very lucrative driving.” He nodded in agreement, studying her features in an attempt to infer her train of thought. 

She thought for a moment, looking briefly around the shop, “What kind of work are we talking about exactly? Because I’m not about to fuck up and get caught around anyone’s dealing bull shit.”

“Dealing? I don’t mess with drugs.” He couldn’t help, but be offended by the insinuation, but quickly schooled his temper down. “Look, what are your goals? What do you want out of life? I know there has to be something; I can see how hard you are working towards it.”

The earnestness she found in his eyes made her heart race and in that moment she could have believed that he really cared. But she knew that no one cared and everything came at a cost, “How lucrative is this job?”

Jenetta needed money. There was just no getting around that. She wanted out of her current situation that involved overdue bills, no food, and no way out. It had been the only life she knew until the prospect of making real money at the races gave her hope. She was finally making fast cash that she would use to pay for an education that would be her ticket out; she was before the stupid hunk of junk died on her. 

Teppei leaned back in his seat with his arms crossed over his chest. He considered their dingy surroundings and the grease that would take weeks to clean out from under the blunt fingernails of the woman across from him, “More money than you have ever seen.”

She thought for a moment, and a moment longer. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she tried to decide if this was a leap of faith or a disastrous temptation, “And it’s nothing illegal?”

A smile spread across his face, encouraging slight dimples to appear at the corners of his lips, “Well, I didn’t say that.”

***

Just like he knew she would, Jenetta took his offer. He knew she wouldn’t be able to turn down the opportunity to expedite her ticket out of hard manual labor that wouldn’t lead anywhere fast. And she quickly became the most valuable asset in the MPC. There hadn’t been a single cop that was able to get anywhere close to them with her behind the wheel, and they were pulling in more jobs than ever on her reputation alone.

Teppei beamed with pride every time he got to sit shotgun with her and witness the fire ignite in her eyes that indicated that she was about to transport to some other place entirely; somewhere where she only focused on the route and their escape. She had been with them now for six months, and hadn’t let him down a single time. He strongly suspected that she couldn’t anyway. 

They were working on one of their biggest jobs yet and the plan felt clunky from the beginning. Jenetta and Teppei had spent hours on countless nights arguing over the logistics that he was sure would work and that she was certain would fail. In the end, though, what Teppei says goes, and she threw up her hands in defeat and clambered into the driver’s seat of Teppei’s Supra, slamming the door behind her. 

They would soon find out that Jenetta had been right. 

She struggled for control of the vehicle as it skidded through the sharp turn. It was a risky choice on the wet pavement, but there wasn’t another way out that she could see. The cops had been waiting for them to make their move and they had played right into their hands. If she didn’t lose them here, she wasn’t sure she would be able to at all. 

She pulled the steering wheel hard and glided onto the side street, losing traction as she went. She knew better than to pull back the other direction, but the car’s momentum was out of her hand anyway. Everything felt like slow motion as the car spun out of control down the street. Her gaze met Teppei’s for the briefest moment that felt more like an eternity before they jumped a curb. The back, driver’s side of the car collided hard with the telephone pole in their path sending the car spinning faster and ultimately flipping several times down the hillside. 

When the vehicle finally stopped, it was on its side at the bottom of the hill. Teppei’s side was on top, he was suspended in his seat by the strength of his seatbelt alone. Neither of the airbags had deployed and he wondered for a moment if Jenetta had disabled them like she had talked about. Her name in his mind was like a bell that rang louder and louder until he gained the strength to look in her direction. Her head rested against the window that was pressed heavily against the ground, and he could see blood pooling slowly against the splintering glass. 

His heart felt like it had stopped beating. She wasn’t moving. “Jen? Jenetta?” He reached for her slowly, brushing her hair from her face. Still nothing. He tried to grasp for her hand, but it was just out of reach. Looking around for some way to brace himself, he decided on planting his feet against the dash and holding tight to the overhead grip while he unbuckled his seatbelt. 

He barely had enough strength to keep himself from falling to the other end of the cab. With great effort, he maneuvered until one foot was wedged against the side of the driver’s seat, the other balancing on the steering column, and stood using his shoulder like a battering ram over and over again until the crushed metal of the door gave way to their escape. 

Teppei crouched down and unbuckled Jenetta’s seatbelt, trying once more to no avail to rouse her. Careful foot placement against her window gave him his next foothold as he gathered her small, limp frame in his arms and hoisted them out of the car to the ground below. With shaking hands, he reached out for her pulse and nearly choked with relief when he felt it beating at his fingertips. 

“Please wake up,” He gently rocked her shoulder as he watched for any company. “Goddammit! Wake up, Jenetta!”

When she didn’t stir, he resolved to carrying her. They had to get far away from this scene right now. He stood up from his crouching position and immediately fell back down to his knees grasping at his head. His hand came away slick with blood and he knew that time wasn’t going to be on their side. 

He stood again, more slowly this time, and scooped Jenetta into his arms. The blaring of sirens was already overwhelming the sound of his own pulse in his ears, but he was determined to get them away. There was a payphone at the gas station that they passed in town and he thought he might be able to make it back there. 

“What happened?” She began to stir in his arms and looked horrified when she saw the blood streaming down Teppei’s face.

***

After nearly an hour’s walk in the shadows, they finally made it back to the payphone where Teppei was able to dial his sister’s number and was picked up shortly after. Against her protests that they needed to see a doctor, he convinced her to drop them off at Kaneko Autobody with the promise that they would go to the hospital if there were any warning signs. 

“I don’t actually have a first aid kit,” Teppei said timidly, wringing the wet cloth between his hands as he approached where Jenetta was perched on the countertop of the shop’s kitchen. 

“It’s fine. I think it probably looks worse than it is.” She reached out for the cloth, but had her hand pushed gently aside. She swallowed hard, everything taking more effort than it should, “I think I should go home.”

“We need to lay low for a little while, Jen. And you can’t let your father see you like this.” He was avoiding eye contact.

“I can’t stay here. And my name is Jenetta.” She detested having her name shortened to ‘Jen’ and he knew it. 

Teppei suppressed a smile that was playing at the edge of his lips, and began slowly, gently, wiping away at the clotted blood covering her skin. She kept a straight face during the process, but her white-knuckle grip on the countertop signaled to him that this was painful for her. 

“Do you want me to stop?” He paused the work his hands were doing to give her a slight reprieve. 

She simply shook her head, eyes still gently closed. Teppei dipped the cloth in peroxide and gently dabbed at her eyebrow.

“I’m so sorry, Teppei.” Her voice was so small and thick with emotion. 

“I don’t know what you have to be sorry for,” he continued his methodical cleaning.

“You could have been killed. You trusted me, and I almost got you killed.” tears tempting her lash line, threatening to fall. There would be no stopping them once they did. 

“Look at me.” He placed his hands on either side of her from his position between her legs. 

She took a deep breath before slowly looking at him. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong. Your job is to get us out, and here we are.” He gestured around the room without taking his eyes off of her. 

“I wrecked your car.” Her breath hitched as she fought the sobs.

Teppei shrugged, “It was time for a new one.”

Jenetta laughed briefly before the movement sent a piercing pain through her body. She doubled over, gripping her ribs as Teppei steadied her. When she straightened back up her face was just inches from his. Her eyes were fixated on his lips for a long moment before moving to his eyes. He was watching her intently, hands still wrapped around her arms.

“I…I think I need to lie down.” She dropped her gaze to her lap.

Teppei let go of her arms and took a step back. There was so much he wanted to communicate to her, but knew it would have to be on her terms, “Follow me. I’ll show you where you can sleep tonight.” He helped her gently get down from the counter and lead her into the back.


End file.
